RELIGIOUS CONFUSION

Just casting my ear over Ray Darcy on the Today FM as I “work” here today. They’re discussing religion in Ireland and what it now means to the people. Its a topic that I have often considered myself. What does it mean to us, what does it mean to me. I can’t speak for everyone out there, though I will defend till the day I die the right of people to differ from me in their opinion and I value the opinion of everyone out there. And, I’d like to know all of your opinions.

I can only offer my own take on it:

I was born into a Roman Catholic family. I still remember all of us in our living room saying the rosary on certain nights, led my my Granny (R.I.P.). I remember attending all of the religious ceremonies at Easter time, including the Good Friday service. I served as an altar boy, I did mass readings for a long time, and I even remember when I was very small, watching mass on RTE1, pretending that I was the priest, using cut out circles from a Brennan’s sliced pan as communion wafers. All of my Aunts thought that I too would one day end up being a priest. Later in life in times of extreme strife and worry I turned to prayer and to reading the Bible, and I found it helpful and therapeutic.

Fast forward many years.

I now consider myself an “a-la-carte Roman Catholic”. That is to say that I still consider myself to be a Roman Catholic, and I still practice in my own way, but I now only take what I deem to be relevant from the practice. I know that to most followers of the “one true faith” that this makes me a non-believer. And, believe me, I do believe, and furthermore I wish I did now believe to the extent that I once did. But, now, I find it difficult to take the Church seriously. Their hypocrisy has turned me and I feel that they are more of a group of chancers and hangers on that the vessels through which God travels. My opinions sometimes differ from theirs, so why am I automatically wrong as a consequence of this? Why are they always right?

I think that eventually we will all meet God/our God, in a better place. Hang on to your beliefs they may someday be all that you have, and hopefully someday I’ll get mine back.